Canalys is ready with its Indian market report for Q4 last year and full year 2022. This is the first time we see shipments decline in Q4 compared to Q3. Year-over-year, the latest quarter saw volumes fall by an astonishing 27% and pushed the overall result for the year down 6% compared to 2021.
For the first time in 20 quarters, Samsung took the top spot as the largest smartphone vendor for the first time since 2017, dethroning Xiaomi. However, the latter remains on top for the full year 2022.
Even though Samsung’s shipments in 2022 fell by 21%, it managed to secure the largest share of the Indian market in the fourth quarter with a 21% share, an increase of 2 percentage points year on year. vivo increased sales by the most among major suppliers: shipments grew 13% to secure a 20% market share and second place.
Xiaomi dropped to third place in the fourth quarter with a whopping 40% drop in sales and barely managed to stay ahead of Oppo which saw 10% growth and only got 100,000 units fewer than Xiaomi’s result.
Realme fared even worse in the fourth quarter, delivering just a third of what it managed in the same quarter of 2021 and dropping to a rather distant fifth position.
| Salesperson | Shipments Q4 2022 (millions) | Q4 2022 market share | Shipments Q4 2021 (millions) | Q4 2021 market share | Annual growth |
| SAMSUNG | 6.7 | 21% | 8.5 | 19% | -21% |
| I live | 6.4 | 20% | 5.6 | 13% | 13% |
| Xiaomi | 5.5 | 17% | 9.0 | 20% | -40% |
| oppo | 5.5 | 17% | 5.0 | 11% | 9% |
| The real me | 2.7 | 8% | 7.6 | 17% | -65% |
| Other | 5.7 | 18% | 8.5 | 19% | -32% |
| Total | 32.4 | 100% | 44.2 | 100% | -27% |
Looking at 2022 as a whole, Xiaomi still leads the pack with a 20% share, but has once again lost the most ground, losing over a quarter of its shipments.
Samsung is second, just like in 2021, but the difference has decreased from 10 million to 1 million units shipped. vivo is also much closer to third place, its sales mostly unchanged year-over-year.
Oppo was the only top 5 to record more sales in 2022 than in 2021, helping it overtake sister brand Realme for fourth place.
| Salesperson | Shipments 2022 (millions) | Market share 2022 | Shipments 2021 (millions) | Market share 2021 | Annual growth |
| Xiaomi | 29.6 | 20% | 40.2 | 25% | -26% |
| SAMSUNG | 28.6 | 19% | 30.1 | 19% | -5% |
| I live | 25.4 | 17% | 25.8 | 16% | -2% |
| oppo | 22.6 | 15% | 20.9 | 13% | 8% |
| The real me | 20.9 | 14% | 24.3 | 15% | -14% |
| Other | 24.5 | 16% | 20.2 | 13% | 22% |
| Total | 151.6 | 100% | 161.5 | 100% | -6% |
Canalys says Oppo and vivo owe their most positive performance to their most successful operations during the uneventful holiday season in India. Their focus on offline channels has helped them avoid sharing the fate of others while e-commerce has taken the biggest hit.
Analysts argue that 2023 will be a slow year due to the worsening of the global economic crisis, but in 2024 the Indian market will return to growth.
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